Chrétien back in the loop
JANE TABER AND CAMPBELL CLARK
From Wednesday's Globe and Mail
OTTAWA AND TORONTO — Former prime minister Jean Chrétien, who has been out of active politics for three years, is back in the game, giving advice to the transition team of new Liberal Leader Stéphane Dion.
Mr. Chrétien speaks regularly to Marcel Massé, one of his former cabinet ministers, who is co-chairing Mr. Dion's team. Sources said Mr. Massé may be given a different title — principal secretary — but will effectively serve as the chief aide to running the Opposition Leader's office.
Mr. Chrétien, who loves to remain in the loop, has been giving advice on governance and other issues, somewhat in the same way former Conservative prime minister Brian Mulroney talks to Stephen Harper.
“Chrétien can give huge advice,” one senior Liberal said. “Nobody knows better how to defeat a government, when to call an election, how to manage the caucus [in the early days] and how to manage the regions. His instincts are second to none.”
The former Liberal prime minister has spoken to Mr. Dion a couple of times since his election, according to the senior Liberal, but not in recent days. Mr. Massé, said the source, has a great deal of respect for Mr. Chrétien.
Mr. Chrétien, 72, has essentially been out of politics since his arch-rival Paul Martin replaced him in late 2003. His first political speech since then was a rousing, election-campaign-style attack on Mr. Harper at the Montreal leadership convention that elected Mr. Dion this month.
Mr. Dion moved yesterday to place most of his former rivals for the leadership in key posts, one day after he named second-place finisher Michael Ignatieff as his deputy leader.
Gerard Kennedy, whose support after the second ballot secured victory for Mr. Dion, will assume the newly created staff position of special adviser on election readiness and renewal. Third-place finisher Bob Rae and sixth-place Scott Brison were placed in charge of the party's election platform, while last-place Martha Hall Findlay was given a job heading consultations for the platform.
Mr. Rae, who retreated to Florida after the leadership convention to nurse his bitter disappointment, signed on as platform co-chair after he was assiduously courted by Mr. Dion, sources close to both men said.
The two men met for dinner shortly after the convention. But Mr. Rae was not persuaded he would play a major role until Mr. Dion repeatedly called to discuss it, suggesting there would be party roles for some members of Mr. Rae's leadership team, and that Mr. Rae would have a safe riding in which to run in the next election.
“It was important for Bob to have an appropriate role and to get the right signals about support for a riding,” said one source close to Mr. Rae. “Stéphane came through on both counts.”
Mr. Rae insisted yesterday he “certainly” plans to run in the next election, but does not know where.
“You can't let disappointment take over your life. The fact of the matter is that there's only one winner. And the convention's over, and life goes on,” Mr. Rae said after a news conference with Mr. Dion and the other former candidates in Toronto. “I felt that Mr. Dion reached out right away and said, ‘I want to talk to you about the platform, and we need to get going on some things.' And I said I'm happy to help.”
The appointment places the task of writing the Liberal platform in the hands of a former New Democrat and a former Progressive Conservative — although Mr. Dion, famous for managing details, will certainly control the thrust of that document.
“He will be involved in every aspect of the readiness of the electoral campaign. He will be my eyes, my ears. He will help me to work with the co-chairs of the platform and the co-chairs of the election,” Mr. Dion said.
Only two leadership candidates have so far not been handed key roles: Ken Dryden and Joe Volpe. Mr. Dion said that Mr. Volpe will be given a role in the Commons, likely a critic's role in the shadow cabinet. He effusively insisted he cannot find a title big enough for Mr. Dryden.
The appointment of Mr. Massé, 66, is seen as vital. He served as a senior minister in the first two Chrétien governments. Mr. Dion respects and listens to him, sources said.
Mr. Massé is said to have a mind like a “steel trap,” is not easily ruffled and is always pleasant. He has two key strengths that Mr. Dion lacks: a good knowledge of foreign affairs and economics. Mr. Massé was undersecretary of state for External Affairs, was executive director for Canada at the World Bank and has worked at the Inter-American Bank in New York.
Mr. Dion has never served in an economic portfolio, and one source said that he rarely if ever intervened on economic matters around the Chrétien cabinet table.
But the Massé appointment will not come without controversy. Mr. Dion's so-called Dream Team boasts few women in significant roles.
“He put himself forward as the candidate who is going to promote women in politics so he needs to set the example by appointing women in his office,” one Liberal said. There are few women around him in his office, although many strong women helped him get elected.
Mr. Dion had to push a woman — Lucienne Robillard — aside to accommodate Mr. Ignatieff as deputy leader.
He has hired Eleni Bakopanos, who plans to run again in Montreal, as his caucus liaison officer and brought in another failed candidate, Linda Julien, to fulfill his promise to field about 100 female candidates in the next election.
